


Scars of Death

by Zath



Category: Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft
Genre: Angst, Argent Tournament (Warcraft), DKCember2020, Death Knight, Death Knight(s) (Warcraft) - Freeform, Druid(s) (Warcraft) - Freeform, Established Relationship, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:54:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27888625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zath/pseuds/Zath
Summary: Knight Thaeus Fenhaven recalls the moment everything changed, his moment of death, when warmth ebbed from his body until nothing remained... or so he thought.
Relationships: Female Night Elf | Elves/Male Human(s) (Warcraft), Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	Scars of Death

**Author's Note:**

> This story is for **Day 04 - Death Scar/How They Died** for **DKcember2020** and it features my Death Knight Thaeus Fenhaven and my friend [Wondrous Wendy's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WondrousWendy/) Druid OC Ziael Duskwind.

He could not bring himself to hate the snow. Not for its coldness that now seemed dulled, nor the memories brought with it; for some were worth the pain remembering. He could recall his seventh birthday, his mother had made a cake, his sister Thellys had sat beside him as his brothers had presented him with a wooden sword that each of them had carved together. The Fenhaven crest was engraved on the handle. It had been a treasured possession of his even after he had his first steel sword fashioned. He had mounted it above the door of his bedroom. His brothers had teased him about it, but he liked to look at it and remember how happy he had been in that moment. 

Thaeus looked down at his palm as another flake of snow fell into it. The piece of ice did not melt away on contact with his skin. He could scarcely feel what he knew should be cold at all. It reminded him of lazy days before his family's hearth as he laid buried under blankets hearing the faint whispers of his parents that he couldn’t make out beneath the fabrics. 

But now it wasn’t the warmth around him that dulled his senses; only the ice cold of undeath. The undeath he had been granted after a useless death. He had died a young man, not on a field of battle, but on a pier staring out at burning ships as he felt life drain from his body. He had heard a woman scream as they all ran to the ships as the invading army had closed in around the refugees. He had turned to help her and her child back onto their feet. He had told them to run when they screamed again. This time at him.

He didn’t even feel the lance bury itself through his body. He could just remember the warmth of his own blood filling his mouth, spilling onto his hands, burning in his chest, looking down and finally seeing the weapon. Then slowly the bitter chill that permeated through his dying body that followed. Tears spilled from his eyes as he fell to his knees and watched people around him be cut down. He could only think of his sister, Thellys--the only family he had left, and he prayed not for himself. He prayed to the Light that she would be safe. To spare her from this pain, to let her know that he was sorry for dying so far from home and leaving her alone.

A gentle hand on his shoulder causes him to turn sharply. Then, he relaxes slightly when he sees Ziael Duskwind at his side. 

“What are you doing so far from the camp M’Lady?” 

Ziael’s normally smiling face is marred by sadness.

“What is wrong?” He asks and turns toward her, “Has something happened?”

Her hands lower to his own clenched fist that he didn’t remember closing. “You stand here with a broken expression and you ask me how I am Thaeus? How large a heart you must have.”

His brows furrow slightly. “I have told you before M’Lady that I am unable to show any emotions in undeath.”

“Perhaps to those who don’t know you, like I think I do.” She raises a hand to his cheek. “What were you thinking about all alone out here?”

He can feel the slight warmth of her palm penetrate his perpetual chill. The runes in his skin desperately reach out to grasp at her warmth. He hesitates a moment, but could never deny her anything, so he answers truthfully. “My death.”

Tears form in her gold eyes as she smiles sadly at him. She lowers her hand back to her side.

“I did not mean to upset you, Ziael.”

“You haven’t upset me, Thaeus. Pain and its memory are things everyone experiences, from the young to the eldest one among us. It’s not something to be ashamed of nor something to apologize for.” She wipes the corner of her eye. “My Shan’do reminds me of this lesson always.”

“If it brings you any consolation I do not feel anything. It's been several years since it happened.”

“And you think with time you’ll forget about that day? About the losses you have suffered?” She shakes her head. “If you live for a thousand more years Thaeus Fenhaven you will never forget that day nor the days that followed in its wake. The more you try to forget about it the sharper it will be burned in your memory.”

“Then I hope, Light willing, that I will not be alive for a thousand years.”

“Another death is your answer to escape the pain you have suffered?”

“Ziael I have told you, I feel nothing--”

“But you do feel Thaeus.” She places her hands upon his breast plate. “I came to you because I saw it on your face as you stood here in the snow. I saw your pain, the feelings of a man. You have never stopped being this man… A good man who still cares about this world and the people living in it.”

“I am undead.”

“So you are, not by your choice but by fate.” Her fingers tighten on his armor. “But you are _far_ from emotionless. You just show it differently. Those feelings are still there inside you.”

His glowing blue eyes bore into her own gold ones. How could she still say things like this?

“I could never…” She bites her lip and drops her voice to barely a whisper. “I could never be in love with someone who did not feel something.”

His entire body goes rigid. 

“I would like to think I’ve been able to know the man underneath the armor you wear during our time together. I too grieve for the past, but I still hold onto hope that the brightest part of our history lies before us and not behind.”

Some consider the fact that the undead do not need to breathe a benefit. Thaeus never saw it as anything other than reminding him of another basic trait others had taken for granted. Still, even though he had no need to do so, his body still unconsciously remembered to breathe and took a sharp intake of breath as he continued to stare up at Ziael standing before him. 

“I wish I could hear you say how you felt more often instead of having to perceive how you really feel.” Ziael smiles sadly. “Perhaps it is selfish of me.”

He wraps his arms around her and pulls her tightly against him. “It is what you deserve. You are too good for me. I would have said the same to you had we met when I was alive.” He reaches up and cups her own cheek with his gloved hand. “I do love you Ziael. With all that I am.”

She smiles, this time happier though there are more tears in her pretty eyes. “I love _all_ that you are Thaeus. That is enough for me.”

He nods and then kisses her softly. She melts into his arms and wraps her arms around him. When they break apart she stares at him and whispers, “Could you tell me of your death?”

He closes his eyes a moment and sighs. “It is not a happy tale.”

“But you have carried it with you all this time without telling another soul.” Her fingers thread through his now dark hair. “I wish to unburden you and to understand.”

“You shouldn’t be out in this cold.”

Ziael frowns and opens her mouth to speak, but Thaeus silences her with another kiss.

“Let us go back to your tent and I will tell you if you still wish to know.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed the piece please leave a kudos and comment! 
> 
> If you'd like to follow me for more content, you can find me on Twitter at [RangerZath](https://twitter.com/RangerZath)


End file.
